We can understand this scepticism, and not just because of the cost involved with shipping Max over. After all, one of the reasons we moved overseas was to take advantge of the proximity to Europe and travel to lots of exciting new places. Having a dog complicates that as you can't just get up and go, but have to consider their boarding needs too.
We've rented back in Australia with Max, so understand the complications involved with needing to fnd a pet-friendly property. Luckily, there seem to be fewer ads over here for places that specify "NO PETS", so there's one advantage there. And we even managed to talk our current landlords into allowing "a little white, fluffy thing", rather than the big German shepherd who previously lived in the house and managed to destroy lots of it. Of course, we had to pay a heft deposit but at least we'll get that money back when we move out.
Another complication here is that most people live in flats or shared housing. This means that there were not many houses with enclosed gardens available for us to rent, or at least none in our price range. We did see a number of houses with "garden" listed on the ad, but when we inspected these were little scraps of grass between the front gate and the front door that were barely bigger than Max himself.
Our place has a patch of grass outside the front that we can possibly fence off and leave Max in while we are out, but of course that is not necessarily an option this time of year (it's currently -1 degree, at 3.30pm). Leaving Max inside while we are at work isn't an option either, as it's not fair to him or us. He's usually okay home by himself, but yesterday I popped out to the supermarket for just over an hour, and came home to find he had pulled down one of the curtains in the living room (amazingly not damaging anything).
Today, though, our problems seem to have been alleviated somewhat as we found a lovely lady who runs a doggy day care place. She came over to visit Max, and they hit it off immediately. After going mental over her smelly jacket for five minutes, then rolling on his back and kicking his legs in the air, Max ended up falling asleep with his head on her foot. We're used to seeing Max grovel to other people and act like they are the coolest things in the world, so we weren't offended.
But she likes Max, and is able to pick him up each morning and drop him off each afternoon. This will minimise the amount of time he has alone so he won't fret as much, and will be less tempted to pull down the curtains.
It can be challenging having a dog to look after, especially when he tries your patience a million times a day.
But when you glance over and see him sleeping sweetly in his basket, looking like a white, fluffy angel, it's easy to forgive the rest.
1 comment:
Max wasn't just trying to pull down one of the curtains... While you were out he went to Scottish Lincraft and purchased a fabric he preferred, sewed you up a new set of curtains, and was trying to hang them. But you arrived home early and ruined the surprise.
He sent me an email telling me how disappointed he was that you thought he was simply being destructive.
Post a Comment